Who we are
by Tinkabelle21
Summary: “Sometimes, people ask too much of you. They ask for more then you can give.” Jack and Will have a talk on a beach, about the things they have to sacrifice.


"Sometimes, people ask too much of you. They ask for more then you can give." Jack and Will have a talk on a beach, about the things they have to sacrifice.  
  
Disclaimer: Disney owns all the rights. I'm just playing with them.  
  
Please Read and review.  
  
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"Sometimes, people ask too much of you. They ask for more then you can give." Jack Sparrow said sadly, his hat angled over his eyes, his face cast in shadow. Will lit a cigarette, his palm x-rayed by the flame. He stared out to sea, his clouded brown eyes dark. The wind blew against the two figures, as they sat on the beach, their feet bare in the sand. The ocean stretched out before them, filled with a tirade of possibilities, opportunities, and of things past, buried beneath the waves.  
  
Their friendship had been forged on the ocean, a disgruntled blacksmith and a disheartened sailor. Both knew the temptations of riding the wind, the promise of excitement that came with danger. And now, together, with the sounds of bars and parties in the background, they drank to the loneliness that was lodged in both their hearts.  
  
Jack rubbed his hands over his temple, his blackened fingertips disappearing under the brim of his hat. He winced, closing his eyes for a moment to long. He was on the bad side of being drunk, when the world seemed darker and lonelier then it had before he'd taken up the bottle. He sniffed, feeling his companion waiting.  
  
"She asked me to give it up. To give it all up." He swung the bottle widely, his arms spraying out in front of him, encompassing the ocean and the wind and the very world in his meaning. Will looked over at the old pirate next to him, and wondered at the black depression that seemed to be resting on his shoulders.  
  
"She's asked you that before. And I'm sure she'll ask you again." Will said quietly. Jack looked perplexed, and then stood up, his hands resting on his waist. He noticed the bottle in his hand, bent over and placed it very deliberately in the sand. He frowned at it as it swayed, second-guessing it as though it were an opponent. When he was sure the wine bottle wasn't moving, he walked down the beach, until the waves were licking his ankles.  
  
Will watched him baffled, but knowing better then to interrupt Jack when he was in one of these moods. He watched Jack unbuckle his pants, and relieve himself into the ocean. Will heard the fire works signalling the commodore's marriage. Wonderful lady, Jack had said, through a half full mouth and that she was, though Will had not been envious. Elizabeth was the only woman he had ever desired.  
  
The fireworks burst, red and gold shimmers that streamed down through the night air like falling treasure. Jack, finished with his business, turned around, watching the display. Half the town, surely, would be standing open mouthed, gazing up at the sky.  
  
But they would not see the stars, or feel the beauty of the cool summer night. All they would see was the glitz and sparkle in the air, and marvel at it.  
  
Will covered his face in his hands. His thoughts were becoming too glum. Tonight was meant to be a celebration. Tonight was one of his few nights in Port Royal, and he should be enjoying it. He should be with Elizabeth, relishing in her cool embrace, her sweet lips, her strong long body and her trust. Oh, her trust. He looked into those eyes, and felt everything was right in the world. If they could just be together then they could face anything.  
  
"I mean, does she really know what she's asking me?" Jack said, tripping, and half sprawling down next to Will again. He squinted at the wine bottle as though it had moved, before grabbing it again. "I mean, I love her, though don't tell her that," He said as a quick after thought. "I mean, its Ana-Maria. I think of her hair, and her beautiful figure," Jack made an outline in the air, a pleasurable grin forming on his mouth. "that's just so, and her hands, the things she does to me, there was this one time." Jack started, leaning heavily on Will's shoulder.  
  
"Jack," Will said warningly.  
  
"Oh, that's right." Jack said, disentangling himself. He drained the wine bottle with a sigh. "But you went through the same thing with Elizabeth, didn't you?" Jack leered, his face covered with worry. Will looked at his hands, rough, course hands made for hard labour.  
  
"Yes. I did. But she understood why I had to leave, why I had to become a pirate. Well," Will corrected, his face darkening. "At least, she tried to understand. She pretended she understood why being a blacksmith wasn't enough for me, when being a blacksmith's wife was enough for her. She pretended she could hear the wind calling her like it called me, could love the rock of the boat more. nearly more, then anything the land could offer."  
  
"See, that's what I'm talking about mate." Jack said agreeably. "But, Ana- Maria, she wants out. She wants off the Pearl, off the sea. She wants a family from me, a life and kiddies. I mean, I've never done a day's honest work in my life." He laughed derisively.  
  
" I love the Pearl, I love sailing, and I love telling my tales in Tortugua. That's my life, the life I want." Jack continued wistfully. "But she's not happy. She sees what other woman have, what your Elizabeth has, and she wants security. She wants a home that doesn't leak, a bed that doesn't roll, she wants to know where her next meal is coming from, a life were every day isn't possibly the last one. She wants it all." Jack said wearily.  
  
Will smiled comfortingly.  
  
"And she wants you as the husband in the picture."  
  
"Aye, she does at that." Jack said, pursing his lips, and sighing.  
  
"I think Elizabeth wants the same. Every time I leave, she gets this look. And she sees the commodore; the life she could have has as the commodore's wife, where her husband will be home most nights. Maybe she's regretting the chose she made." Will admitted, voicing the thoughts he long held inside.  
  
He could tell by the way her eyes lingered on his hat now with a vague disapproval, with the way he'd come home unexpected and find the table only set for one though she used to always set it for two anyway.  
  
"I don't want her to be unhappy." Jack said, his voice sounding small and vulnerable in the heat of the night. "I look at her, and there's a promise there. She's a future, a way out. But I can't leave the Pearl, and I can't bare sailing on the Pearl with Ana by my side." Jack buried his face in his hands again. "God, I don't want her to be unhappy."  
  
"We're going to disappoint them, aren't we? We're going to hurt them." Will said finally. He watched the waves, the way the swelled and fell away. The footprints that had littered the beach by day had been washed away, cleaned by the hand of nature. A clean slate again. "By just doing what we have to do. By being who we are."  
  
Jack swallowed; his Adam's apple rose and fell. He pushed a stray dreadlock behind his ear. His gold teeth glinted in the darkness.  
  
"Aye, we are at that." 


End file.
